James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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One now has major pension funds coming in funding the construction of purpose-built student accommodation on a scale that has never been seen before in the State. All of those operate under licence to reside. I raise this matter because I was a student in one of those situations before where there was a dispute over the conditions of the tenancy in terms of construction work that was going on underneath the premises that we were renting about which we were not informed. As we were under a licence to reside there was almost no grounds for protection in the same way that one might have if one had a private lease and that is something that I have experienced. I am worried and concerned about where this will go over the course of the next ten years because we will see thousands of more units of direct student built accommodation being built by private entities and pension funds. Is the RTB concerned about the direction in which this is going? I welcome that the accommodation is being built. However, when it comes to the protections for students living within those facilities, is there anything that the RTB thinks can be done to improve the situation?